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Central Ohioans might finally be able to work in the garden without becoming a muddy mess.

After a damp end to June and a sodden start to July, the region will dry out beginning today.
The National Weather Service forecasts sunny skies with highs in the 80s and no rain through
Tuesday.

It’s rained 14 of the past 15 days in Columbus, and other areas have seen much more rain on a
near-daily basis for almost the past three weeks.

It has rained all but one day since June 26, with rainfall totaling 3.3 inches — 1.32 inches
above normal — through Tuesday at Port Columbus. The excess moisture whittled the precipitation
deficit for the year to 1.7 inches below normal. (And yesterday’s late-afternoon storm erased most
of the shortfall by dumping an additional 1.18 inches of rain.)

Just a few miles north, 5.59 inches of rain soaked Westerville from June 20 through Monday, and
an area-leading 6.29 inches fell in Utica in Licking County.

Why has Port Columbus been relatively “dry” compared with other areas?

There’s no metrological reason; it’s simply the hit-and-miss nature of thunderstorms fueled by
moist air flowing from the Gulf Coast, said Mike Kurz, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service office in Wilmington.